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5 Things You Shouldn't Admit After Buying Chickens

Raising chickens is a growing trend across the country. They are popping up in barnyards, backyards, and urban homesteads. From retirees to hipsters, people are jumping on the chicken bandwagon. We tell ourselves that we want to know where our food comes from, bringing us closer to the source. Or perhaps we want to explore our ancestral roots or developing homesteading skills?

Americana chick on my shoulder

Once you bring home those cute balls of fluff, you want to learn what you can. Sure, you can go online and read through chicken forums. Maybe you will subscribe to various poultry magazines for the articles? What about joining a chicken club? Or perhaps you chat up friends or neighbors who keep chickens? There is a mountain of information out there. Soon you will find yourself wanting to share your new-found knowledge with others. But there maybe a few things you aren’t willing to admit.

5 Thing You Shouldn’t Admit After Buying Chickens

You have a favorite livestock/feed store. Yes, after getting chickens you will spend lots of time there. Maybe it begins with just a few basic questions about chick starter or layer mash, but then you progress to benefits of various types of bedding. In fact, you will become a regular and frequent customer to the point that you will be on a first name basis with the guy behind the counter.

Raising chickens is addicting. Over time, the size of your flock increases. Perhaps you can’t help yourself when stopping by the livestock/feed stores in February or March. You hear the peeping coming from the brooders and so you tell yourself that you are just going to take a quick peek at the chicks. Next thing you know, your spouse is asking you if the flock is bigger?

You will take pictures of your chickens and share them online. While friends and family send you photos of the kids, you’re the one who has a selfie with your favorite hen or newest member of the flock.

You will spend more on organic feed and chicken treats than you do on fresh produce for your family. You start off telling yourself it’s because you are doing it for the eggs. But after a while, you drop the facade because you just like spoiling them (your chickens, not your family).

Your chickens are your pets. Sure, you initially tell yourself they are animals, but soon you have given them cute names. This is then followed by allowing one (or more) into the house and watching them explore. From there it is just a matter of time before you have a ‘lap chicken’ who waits patiently for some cuddle time.

backyard chickens

Chickens are a growing trend. We learn what we can and share that information with others. But maybe there are a few things that we should just keep to ourselves.

I smiled knowingly to myself all the way through this post – this is what I have always thought would happen should my dream of a yard big enough to keep a couple of hens or so ever come to be……. Thanks for the validation 🙂

I loved this post and couldn’t help nodding as I read it! I have chosen this as my featured post at Green Thumb Thursday. Thank you for sharing and I hope you will join in again. ~ Rachel @ Grow a Good Life

LOL as a fairly new chicken owner (I’ve had my girls for about 6 months now), I can completely agree with #2, #3 and #4. I actually laughed out loud at #4 because it’s so TRUE! Too funny but I do love my girls. Pinning!

I love sitting outside with my 4 hens. To be honest, when we bought them, I was freaked out by birds in general, and thought my husband would be the one “dealing” with them. Now, I’m the one who is always with them and taking care of them. I still like sitting outside with them and feeding them from my hands.
Of course, I don’t have pictures of them all over my Instagram account. Ahem. You believed that. Right?

These are so true! I think it changes and morphs over years, though. We’ve had flocks that I just adored, and others (like my current flock) who are just so stand-offish that they’re absolutely “farm animals.”

I know what you mean Kris. Some of the birds in my current flock are stand-offish and so I just think of them as farm animals, while the others definitely are pets and they come running when they see me. One of them will even hop up on my shoulder if I stoop over.

I have to admit, that I have thought about getting a rug… but then all I have to do is look at the chicken run after a rain. The rug would be dirty within minutes. Sounds like you really love your flock. Enjoy!

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Welcome to Urban Overalls

I’m Connie. Growing up on a farm in rural Iowa taught me me many lessons: raising chickens, growing produce, enjoying raw milk, how to cook from scratch using whole foods, canning, mending clothes, and the importance of being someone who gives back to the community.

Now, living in an urban setting, I brought my country ways with me. Join us as Mr. Overalls and I share our adventures, recipes, and how-to in our daily lives on our 1/3 acre slice of heaven near the center of town.